I think we all grew up a little today...and it was a simple trip to the playground that showed us what we were made of.
Let's start with the fact that I sat in the car while the kids played. I have NEVER done that. I watched their every move, but I felt like they needed a "mommy-free" opportunity to play. Did they want it that way? Nope. But I needed a moment, too. So they compromised by making several trips to the car. But when they weren't visiting me, they were running and playing with other children on the playground - exactly what they needed to do. And I was able to tame my inner helicopter-mom.
And here's where I learned a little about each child:
Stewart came to the car to share with me that he and Peyton had been playing hide and seek with another little girl. This particular little girl was running to find a good hiding spot and accidentally ran into and knocked over a younger girl who appeared to be around 3 or 4 years old. The runner kept running, but Stewart stopped to ask the mom of the younger girl if her daughter was ok. How awesome that he not only wanted to make sure she was ok, but also that he was brave enough to ask her mother!
Towards the end of our playground time, Peyton pulled out her bubble solution and bubble-blowing wand and got to work making tons of beautiful bubbles. I encouraged her to go to the other side of the playground because there were 2 younger children over there who I figured would enjoy the bubbles. Peyton hesitated, but before I knew it, she went over to them and seriously brightened their day. She blew bubbles for them until their mom said it was time for them to go home. I'm so proud that she had the chance to do something nice for someone and ran with it!
We all know that homeschoolers are assumed to have poor social skills. But I'd say...we didn't do too poorly today. ;)
